Instagram Practices of Successful Plastic Surgeon Accounts: Is There a Magic Formula?

Abstract

Background: Social media has become a valuable platform for advertising. Instagram is one of the most popular platforms. Many plastic surgeons have utilized this platform to promote themselves and their practices. Having followers on Instagram can provide validity and expand the reach to potential clients. We aim to compare Instagram practices of top 10 plastic surgeon Instagram accounts to those with 10 to 100,000 followers. Methods: Top 10 plastic surgeon Instagram accounts were selected using Google and Instagram search features. Additional plastic surgeon Instagram accounts were selected using Instagram search feature. Each account was evaluated for average number of contents posted daily as well as media type (videos vs photos) of contents posted between November 1, 2022, and February 20, 2023. Statistical analysis was performed using double-tailed unpaired student t test to compare the top 10 account group to the 1000 to 10,000 follower group and 10,000 to 100,000 follower group. Results: When comparing the 1000 to 10,000 follower group and 10,000 to 100,000 follower group to the top 10 plastic surgeon Instagram accounts, there were no significant differences in average number of posts, number of pictures posts, number of video posts, and percentage of video posts. Conclusions: Although this study did not demonstrate a significant difference between Instagram account practices of plastic surgeons with millions of followers to those with 1000 to 100,000, it provides valuable information regarding posting practices of plastics surgeons on Instagram.